Fernando Alonso will not settle for podium finishes

Getting onto the podium is something we’ve all dreamed of, but Fernando Alonso has absolutely no interest in just a podium finishes.

He is “100% committed to winning”, adding: “I want to be world champion.”

At 35 years old, the two times champion, (2005 and 2006), has been searching for another race win since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix.

McLarens 2017

The past two seasons haven’t been easy for McLaren with the re-introduction of Honda engines and Alonso doesn’t expect to close in on the competition as quick as we might hope after the announcement of the new McLaren Honda MCL32.

“We need to recover a huge gap,” he said. “Winning having come sixth in the previous constructors’ championship is something no-one did apart from Brawn in 2009.”

“We started 2017 early enough. We put a lot of resources in this year’s car. We changed completely the philosophy of the engine, which is risky but needed if we want to win because the engine of the last two years was not good enough to win.”

He added: “I expect Mercedes to still be very competitive. We saw their new car yesterday, which seems very well elaborated, and they have the advantage of the engine. They will be contenders. I am sure the Red Bull will be up there and hopefully we can put ourselves in that group.”